Cyclone Nilofar: High alert issued for Gujarat fishermen

Fishermen in Amreli district here have been advised not to venture into sea as the Cyclone Nilofar is likely to make a landfall on Friday near Naliya in Kutch district of Gujarat.

Cyclone Nilofar was located 1,270 kilometres west-southwest of western Mumbai last night. It is expected to hit the land mass with a wind speed of 90-100 kilometres per hour.

"All the boats have been called back. There is no arrangement of putting any kind of signal here," said Bahibai Solanki, vice president of the Fisheries union.

An officer of the Jafrabad Fisheries said that out of 238 boats only 12 have returned till now.

"We are in full contact to boat association. As of now there are 238 boats in the sea, out of which around 12 have come back. An alert has been declared and remaining fishermen have also been called back," said Kiran Kamlya, Jafrabad Fisheries officer.

"We are contacting them through wireless remotes as the Nilofar is approaching fast," she added.

The Gujarat administration has also geared up to face the situation.

Chief Minister Anandiben Patel reviewed the preparedness and asked officials to draw a roadmap to deal with the cyclone. The State Government has asked all concerned district authorities to start taking precautionary measures to tackle a severe cyclonic storm.

Confirming that the Kutch region will be the most severely affected by the storm, Patel said she is in touch with the collectors of the areas most at risk due to the storm.

Cyclone Nilofar is the second large cyclonic storm to approach the Indian landmass this month, after Cyclone Hudhud struck the coast of Andhra Pradesh on October 12.